Home is Where the Heart Is
by elilover2
Summary: So, you know that allusive little scene in which Daniel managed to punch Rusty in the face? Yeah, this is that. T cause they swear.


**A/N: I couldn't find Daniel's fiancee's name anywhere, which is why I'll have to make one up. I think I'll probably use Katherine or something, because that sounds the best. Other than that little detail I believe I got this as accurately as I possibly could since I only watched that episode once when it aired which was a while ago. **

**Anyway, I own nothing except for the plot of this story and what not. **

Rusty was, to say the least, a little nervous as he slid into Daniel's small white car. He was, to say the least, a little nervous as they began the long drive to Daniel's house. And he was, to say the least, a little nervous when they finally pulled up at the sizable house with the pool and the big front lawn and a pretty blonde woman standing on the steps. Yes, Rusty was a little nervous, but his pride was telling his nerves that they better get their shit figured out, because he was fairly certain that the Dunn's had a hell of a lot more reasons to be scared of him than he had to be scared of them.

Gripping his bag tightly Rusty pushed open the passenger side door and stepped into the cool fall evening. His feet bounced a bit on the thick grass, a lawn of the upper class standards, and he wished he was barefoot, just so he could feel like a little kid again.

"Come on." Daniel's voice was tired and a bit nervous. Rusty hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and followed his father towards the house, studying the blonde woman. She was, he assumed, Katherine. He had to admit, as they reached the steps, she was even better looking up close. Pretty in a generic way, with hair that fell to her midback, and a slim figure. Her eyes were a deep blue and, at the moment, shone with a vague contempt. She sniffed imperiously at Rusty, but shook his hand without any sort of goading from Daniel.

"Nice to meet you." Her voice was stiff but, Rusty allowed, that could be because she was nervous. He was, even he had to admit, a rather nerve wracking charge to have.

"Same." He smiled and she managed a small smile back. Pulling open the door, after giving Daniel a rather hesitant kiss, she led the small procession inside. As soon as they were all in the wood floored and high ceilinged entrance hall, two little girls came pattering down a set of steps. They were blonde and blue eyed, like their mother, but there was something distinctly Daniel in the shapes of their faces. The oldest one looked to be about seven, the younger one four or five. Rusty smiled at them and the older one smiled tentatively back but didn't come any closer. The little one shied away from the strange boy, hiding behind her sister and peeping around the other girls legs.

"Stacey, Hannah, say hi to Rusty." Daniel instructed with a forced smile. Both girls remained silent and he waved his hand, as if suggesting that little ones would be little ones, and gestured for Rusty to follow him.

"You'll be sleeping in the guest room, which is just upstairs."

The guest room was very new and very stiff. The walls were a deep blue and the bed things were white, making the overall effect something sailorish. Rusty placed his bag on the bed and inspected the scarce furnishings, glancing at Daniel when he was finished.

"It's nice." He reassured and, well, lied. But, he rationalized as they headed back down the stairs, it was for the sake of being a good little burden. He knew that this was hard for Daniel, knew that he was something of an unexpected and unpleasant load, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to make it better. No matter how much he loved Sharon, and how nervous (and, frankly, just plain SCARED) he was, he just knew that this was where he belonged.

"Dinner will be ready soon." Katherine warned as soon as they'd entered the living room (red walls with beige and brown furniture that Rusty wasn't very partial too). The girls, Stacey and Hannah, were sprawled out on the floor coloring and talking amongst themselves. Rusty laughed at their seriousness and hesitantly joined them, laying on his stomach so that he was on their level.

"I like your picture." He spoke to the littlest girl, Stacey he thought, who smiled shyly and handed him a red crayon. The intention was, he assumed, that he would help her color.

"What should I color?" He asked and she pointed at the flower nearest him, which he happily began working on. This seemed to both fascinate and please Stacey, who paused in her own coloring expedition to watch his, a huge smile on her face.

"Where did you come from?" Hannah, eyes serious, suddenly broke the silence.

"Hannah..." Daniel began but Rusty smiled at her.

"I came from the forest." He replied, and was pleased to see Hannah's eyes light up with curiosity, "I used to be an..." He made as if checking to see who all was listening before whispering the next word, "Elf."

"Really?" Hannah breathed and Rusty nodded, all seriousness, frowning slightly.

"I had to leave, because I heard about two little girls, who lived in a house close by. Rumor was that these little girls were in need of someone else to color with, and that they were lots of fun."

"Were they talking about us?" Stacey, eyes wide, couldn't believe her ears. Rusty nodded solemnly and both girls fell silently, absorbing this news.

"Dinner!"

"Let's eat." Rusty stood up, allowing both girls to take a hand, and followed them into the dining room. They settled down to eat, saying a prayer before passing out the food, and Rusty couldn't help but smile. Hannah and Stacey had jostled for the place beside him, until Daniel had stepped in and sorted it out, and now they were both beaming at him from across the table. Seeing how excited her little girls were, Katherine had relaxed a little bit, and was now throwing genuine smiles his way. And Daniel, seeing how well his family had taken Rusty, was casting proud glances over at his son every few seconds.

And Rusty, eating his food with an ecstatic sort of contentment, was finally beginning to feel like he belonged.

And then, the unthinkable happened. As Katherine was cutting into her steak, her knife moving rythmically across the meat, she cleared her throat.

"So, Daniel told me you were on the streets for a few years. How did you manage to survive? Surely you didn't steal?"

Rusty nearly choked on his bite of meat. It was this that he had been dreading for countless nights, this he had been hoping would never occur, and yet here it was, happening in the middle of dinner, where there was no possible escape. He felt like he was going to barf, he felt like he was going to forget where he was and bolt, he felt like doing a lot of things but, unfortunately, he remained seated.

"Yeah I, uh, I had a job."

"Really? What?"

Damn it.

"You know...street work mainly."

"Like what?"

Fuck.

"Um...well I was...I..." He could see, out of the corner of his eye, Daniel motioning frantically for him to abort. It was this, this blatant show of what couldn't be anything but shame, that sent a surge of anger coursing through his chest. Who was Daniel to tell him that he should be ashamed? Who was Daniel to think it was shameful, what he'd done, when it was Daniel who had forced him into that position? Sure, it wasn't REALLY his fault, since he hadn't exactly known about Rusty, but he'd fucked Rusty's mother hadn't he? Surely it was, in some ways, his fault?

"I was a prostitute. You know, a whore?" Rusty tried to sound playful, light, but Katherine did not take it that way. She turned white as a sheet within two seconds of Rusty's proclamation.

"Excuse me?" Her voice faltered and tripped over itself.

"I was a whore. I fucked people, sorry, for money."

"Get out."

It was a simple statement but, for some odd reason, Rusty couldn't manage to comprehend it.

"What?"

"I can't have you in my house. Get out."

She said it calmly, but even Hannah and Stacey's eyes were wide at the cold finality of their mother's voice. Rusty, still unable to comprehend the words, remained seated.

"I'm sorry, I don't know-"

But, before he could finish, he was being jerked to his feet by Daniel. Daniel, who's grip on Rusty's arm was extremely painful; Daniel, who's face was livid. He marched Rusty to the door, pulled it open, and practically threw the boy out into the night. There was a beat of stunned silence from Rusty and a beat of heavy breathing from Daniel before things got ugly.

"You fucking idiot!"

Rusty winced at the statement but said nothing.

"You fucking idiot! Do you realize what I've done for you!? Do you realize how much this is costing me!? I have a WHORE for a son, and that WHORE son can't even be grateful for what I've done! You ungrateful son of a bitch! Do you not give a damn about this family!? Do you not give a damn about the people who were kind enough to let a fucking whore in their house!?"

Rusty felt, at that moment, like he could have killed Daniel. Daniel, who was talking about giving things, when the man had lived for 16 years without even knowing hiw own son. Daniel, who talked about giving things, when he'd allowed his own son to fuck men in motel rooms that smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. It was ridiculious, laughably so, but it also hurt.

Though, not was much as the blow that followed it.

Rearing back his fist, Daniel punched Rusty on the mouth, punched him so hard that he was sent reeling. And then, as if that wasn't enough, he landed a punch that was sure to blacken Rusty's eye. Tears swam in Rusty's eyes but they didn't spill. He wasn't going to cry, but he wasn't going to hit back either. No, he was going to go inside, get his stuff, and leave the bastard to his own damn devices.

And that's exactly what he did.

He got his things, he stepped outside, he tried to walk but soon he was running. He got a cab with the emergency cash Sharon had given him and he told them the address and he sat back while the cab drove him home.

Because, despite what he'd hoped and despite what he'd expected, Daniel wasn't his father at all.


End file.
